Touching Stories: Designing Digital Magazines for the iPad

The launch of the iPad signaled the start of a new era for magazine publishing. A single device that delivered the fidelity of print and the interactivity of the Web, all wrapped up in a fun and easy-to-use form factor gave the industry new reason to hope. There was one trick: no one had designed for this brave new medium yet. Editorial teams suddenly needed to consider multi-touch gestures, multiple orientations, dynamic layout and the integration of rich media into the design of their issues. Ink-smudged print teams had to reach out to the pixel-based life forms in charge of the company websites, and engage a new breed of Cocoa developers as well. Whole new models of information design and user experience we're launched at high velocity into the App Store. Matt Carlson, Hot Studio's Principal of Strategy & Design, was involved in designing some of the first digital magazines that launched on the iPad on April 3rd, 2010. He has spent the last year exploring new ways to experience and engage with magazine content on this exciting new platform. He's worked on iPad editions of magazines such as Spin, Dwell, National Geographic, Car and Driver and many others. In this session he'll share hard-earned knowledge and useful insights on how to design for gestural interfaces, how to integrate interactivity smoothly into digital magazines, and what it takes to build an issue for the iPad.